Two Beautiful Boys

Here is a general update on the boys since we haven't had internet for a month and they have grown a LOT in that time!

I am really enjoying teaching and loving them both at the moment. Zach is such a happy little boy- he laughs and smiles all the day long. He particularly likes it when Oliver and I poke our noses and say "beep beep". He is growing very fast and is a really big boy- but very proportional- he genuinely looks OLD rather than fat!! (Of course I would say that, I'm his Mother!) All of a sudden he is waking 4+ times a night and during the day he wants to be fed every hour-and-a-half and sometimes every hour! Cracking out the baby rice and purées soon I think...

Oliver is a total sponge. He attempts to say every word going, with the most wonderful almost foreign-sounding accent!! He loves to chat about cushions, tractors, diggers, snack, Zach (his absolute favourite topic), wheels, Peppa (Pig), books, trousers and everything else in between. I am totally bowled over now by his speech and understanding since he had a pretty slow start!! Motherhood has taken on a whole new, deeply satisfying level, knowing that 95% of his vocabulary or understanding is what I have helped teach him. Brilliant!

Oliver is ALWAYS kissing and hugging his brother

They came with me to the dentist! My favourite photo

First time in the swing went well!

After a bath :)

Our new home!

I LOVE our house. This is the SIXTH house we have lived in since getting married (three years ago today!) and I have never been as emotionally attached as I have been to this one. It is spacious, beautiful, light and bright, has lots of big cupboards, lets me sleep more now that Zach sleeps a hall away, has a lovely long washing line that Ben has fixed up for me and we have now bought our own furniture!! (We had only rented furnished houses before.) All very exciting, and we have it for the year! Oliver is having a great time tearing around from room to room and doesn't get frustrated being cooped up in just one- parenting is suddenly a breeze (ish...)

Here is a mini tour:

Lounge!

Dining room/kitchen (I LOVE this room!!)

The boys in the dining room!

The village-y view from our bedroom!

Oliver's window!  Home made window seat to come..

I will take more photos when I have finished projects on Oliver and Zach's rooms- Owls for Zach and Cars for Oliver (what else?!)

The house is big so come and visit! It is also pretty chilly up here so we could do with a few extra bodies to warm it up too :)

My family come to visit!

It has been fun but a bit chaotic around here lately!! With the Olympics on my family weren't keen on their usual magnificent and very long camping trip and wanted to stay close to a TV! (Very understandable, since even I was absolutely hooked) Then they decided to come and stay with us in Aberdeen since it is a great base to see amazing things in Scotland and to stock up on some family time since, being 10 hours away, we don't get to do it that often. They stayed for 12 days!! :) It was a bit of a squash and a squeeze fitting the four of us, my Mum, Dad and three brothers in our two bedroomed house but we had a great time!!! Here are a few pictures:

Zach is such a happy baby. Here he is with Uncle Billy

Uncle Billy with Oliver- a bit too foggy for a nice view!

Uncles Harry, Bill and Isaac with Oliver

At Castle Fraser

Love this!

We found one of Aberdeen's Olympic gold postboxes!!!!

BBQ on Balmedie Beach. Brilliant!

The boys in action on the beach

Isaac- action shot!

Me and Mum on the melted bench!

Next adventure... moving house tomorrow!!!!!! :)

Photos of Ed!!!!!!! :)

Sorry, these were posted a couple of weeks ago but we missed them!!

Summer Holiday

What a whirlwind couple of weeks we have had!! Ben booked just over two weeks off work so we packed up the car, squeezed the boys in the back and off we went.

THE LAKE DISTRICT

We spent the first week in the north-west of the Lake District, on top of the Solway coast. The house was a converted barn and was SO pretty inside with lots of pine, skylights and a huge window - I took notes for the future! Like the rest of the country the weather was pretty pants all apart from the last day, when we got burnt!

Because of space we chose not to bring the buggy and brought a sling for me to carry Zach and a baby backpack for Ben to carry Oliver- the scales tell me that I've lost weight and I believe it- it was hard work!! We did three lake walks and one day we climbed a peak constantly for close to two hours. Ben can tell you that I wasn't the best company... but at the top we got breathtaking views of two lakes, Keswick, peaks galore and even along to the coast and across to Scotland. The pictures just don't do it justice.

Ben was excited to hear there were lots of Roman forts in the area so on other days we got a tour around a current archaeological dig, searched for forts, altars and other tidbits that he fancied. Oliver was a bit keen to follow in Daddy's footsteps at the dig and kept trying to jump into the muddy holes they had already excavated. He kept us on our toes and I missed most of the tour (although I wasn't too bothered...!)

On a rainier day we went to a farm park called 'The Gincase'. It was BRILLIANT- lots of animals and food to feed them straight out of your hand, loads of indoor and outdoor play areas (loads of ride-on cars, so totally up Oliver's street, lots of baby animals, a crafty shop for me and Ben and Oliver got to bottle feed a baby goat! Ben and I were a bit nervous to see how Oliver found the animals, but he totally surprised us and was utterly fearless and goats, sheep, horses, pigs...all out out of his hand. He was smitten, it was magical to watch.

When we booked the house in the Lake District, somehow we had forgotten that we live in Scotland - the land of lakes (lochs!) and have the most beautiful scenery around us already, but I think sometimes you need to physically go away somewhere to make the most of it, so it was definitely worth the trip.

Oliver keeps us safe with the GPS around Ennerdale

One dribbly baby on the beach

My Nanna and Granddad who live in Cornwall!!

Zachy Baby and Daddy are reunited after two weeks apart

My Zachy Baby

VISITING FAMILY

... is fun but it can be exhausting!! (See below)

We had a great time with Ben's family for a few days (trips swimming, to Wicksteed Park- a family park and small theme park- a family BBQ and a walk or two around Thrapston- lovely) The boys enjoyed bonding and so did we. Somehow I never end up with many photos of time spent with Ben's family. Ben's Mum is quite the photographer though so I can nab some from her afterwards!

Next up we spent a few days with my family:

In Southwold, a wonderful seaside town

Mum and I chatted as the boys cricketed on the green

The pictures below show a fun but slightly dangerous rope swing on Nacton shores. Dad, Ben and the boys invented a game involved pushing someone on the swing and then sprinting underneath them very close to the cliff... Boys... They thought I was woosy (sp?!) but I did go on in the end!

ZACH'S BLESSING

To top it all off and as a perfect culmination of all things holiday, Zach was blessed at our church in front of the congregation, and we had food afterwards.The blessing was beautiful and lots of family and some friends came to support us and Zach, plus it was at our old chapel in Cambridge (a nice half-way point for our families) so that was lovely bonus to see our friends there. AND we managed to get through lunch before the torrential rain. Phew!

Plus yummy Costco cake and the world's biggest watermelon

What a couple of weeks. Ben thinks we'll need another couple of recover from that 'holiday' :) Now back to normality! I love being away, but normal life is lovely too. I'll report on our Olympic adventure another day. I think I have overloaded everyone already today!

Wednesday evening

At the beginning of the week I got an email from my friend Amelia, wondering if she could come over at 7pm on Wednesday evening for a film and some adult company! She invited two other friends, Silvia and Kirsty. Hooray, sounded good! I had Oliver in bed and had rustled up some snacks and my very small collection of girly DVDs when Kirsty turned up... with her husband DJ. Hmmm, I like DJ but wasn't sure they understood that only ladies had been invited and didn't think he'd be too impressed with the choice of film or the chatting?! However, it turned out that they were the "bearers of good news:" there wasn't a movie night after all- they were having a Baby Shower for me and Zach up at the chapel!! So exciting- I'd never had a Baby Shower before! There were lovely friends, games, food and presents and.... genuinely the most amazing cake I have ever seen made by Silvia (definitely on a par with our wedding cake, which was pretty impressive too!) I ate the entire top layer- amazing but surprisingly hard going, it was HUGE! But absolutely delicious. I brought my camera... with dead batteries, so these are Amelia's photos. Fab!

Eating the huge layer of bath! Hello Kirsty! :)

Zach is reaching for the cake...

Silvia, the maker of the cake and a lovely lady!

Mmmm, AMAZING cake

So, so lovely of them. What lovely friends!